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Saturday February 22, 2014 8:33 PM

Venoms from spiders and other animals, fine-tuned by evolution to stun and paralyze their prey,
are an abundant source of painkillers and other drugs. But screening for useful toxins can be an
arduous process.

Yale University researchers say they have speeded up the process by using DNA cloning
technology to build large libraries of spider venoms.

This makes it easier to test the impact of a broad range of toxins on a particular neural
pathway.

Using the process, the scientists have identified a potential new painkiller: a toxin from
the venom of the Peruvian green velvet tarantula that blunts activity in an ion channel linked to
both inflammation and neuropathic pain known as TRPA1.